"We made it to the campgrounds!" Judy remarked.
As they got closer and closer to their destination, the four mammals that were trekking along started to smile with relief. Up until the moment they reached the location that was in mind, those who were walking behind the rabbit in front of them were concerned that they had been traveling in circles. However, Judy's sense of direction made sure they didn't get lost in the middle of the preserve.
Behind the doe was none other than Nick, and behind him was Delgato and Clawhauser (who looked like he was more than just exhausted).
Once they officially reached the grounds, their walking came to a stop and the four started to work on the assembly of their camping equipment. After all of that was done, they all decided to take their loads off. The only sound they could hear was the crickets chirping in the night and nothing more.
"Thanks for offering to bring me on the trip with you guys," Clawhauser said.
"Don't mention it," Nick replied. "Carrots and I've been wantin' to check this place out for awhile now, and we just thought you and Delgato should come along, too."
"And this is such a cozy spot," Judy chimed in.
Nodding his head in agreement, Delgato said, "It sure is. I've wanted to go camping here for long time as well." He let out a small sigh. "But... let's just pray that we don't end up encountering any of those ghosts that I read about."
Nick, Judy, and Benjamin all turned their heads in the lion's direction, curious as to what he was talking about.
"Ghosts?" the cheetah of the group inquired, sounding a tad spooked. "In this park? When did you read about this?"
Delgato replied, "When I was reading about this place online, I ended up stumbling on an article about it that was written by some paranormal enthusiast. It said that a lot of campers reported that they saw and heard something strange wandering around the campsites at night."
Clawhauser, who now appeared to be spooked, asked, "What do they mean by something strange?"
"From what I remember reading," the lion continued, "there's a legend about this place surrounding the spirit of a coyote who can be spotted here. He was part of a tribe that occupied the land a long time ago, and that he had been cursed by some evil spirits. The thing I read said that he could shape-shift, assuming any form in order to trick unsuspecting mammals when he's creeping around. Only to-"
"Okay, I think I get the idea," Benjamin interrupted with a shudder. "I surely hope that's just a made-up story. If I saw something like that, that would probably frighten the heck outta me. You guys know I don't do well with scary things."
"Amen, Clawhauser," Nick added. "I felt a shiver run down my spine just imagining it."
"Alright, you three," Judy said. "I'd say that's enough scary stories for the night. How about we all try and get some shut-eye?"
At the doe's proposition, the fox replied, "Good idea, Fluff. And maybe we'll check out that other path towards the water in the morning. Want to check that out before we leave for home in the afternoon."
"Sounds good, Nick," the leporine responded. "We head over there first thing in the morning."
As the four mammals got themselves ready to get some sleep for the rest of the night, a distant noise of something rustling arose and caused them all to start looking around in curiosity.
"Guys, tell me I'm not the only one that heard that," Benjamin muttered, sounding a bit nervous. The story that Delgato just shared with them fresh in his mind, his first thought was that it was the coyote out of the legend that caused the sound.
"Was it a bristling kind of noise?" Nick asked in reply.
"Yep." Clawhauser nodded.
"Pretty sure all of us heard somethin' like that," the fox responded. Turning his head to Judy and Delgato, he asked, "Right, guys?"
The bunny and the lion both nodded their heads in agreement.
"Was probably just a bird or somethin' in the bushes out there," Delgato stated, a sense of assurance to his voice. "Nothin' worth making a huge fuss about. We are camping out in the middle of nature preserve, after all."
"Or it was the coyote from the story you told us," the cheetah of the four proposed. "Didn't you say that you read about him comin' out at nighttime?"
"I know, but-" Judy started to say, but was interrupted by the unknown susurration coming from the distance.
"There's that sound again," Nick announced, pointing out the obvious.
"It's the ghost," Benjamin said in a paranoid tone of voice. "I'm thinking that's what's out there, guys."
The doe of the group looked at the scared cheetah and replied, "I'm pretty sure there's a logical explanation for what we're-"
"Momma?" an unknown voice, sounding as if it was choked up by tears, called out in the darkness. It was sounded as if it were crying out from the same place that the whooshing of the bushes came from.
"Uh, someone's out there, guys," Clawhauser stated.
"It sounds like a young child," Delgato replied. "I think somebody got lost out here." The lion grabbed the backpack laying on the ground, pulled out a small light from one of its compartments, and set it back down where he got it. He started to walk a few steps away from their campsite and towards the darkness, gesturing for the three behind him to follow him. "Come on, guys. We should probably go help him."
The lion had been a charitable mammal most of his life, always participating in any activity that he knew would be beneficial to those in need. Whether he was volunteering at the soup kitchen, purchasing toys to donate to charities around the holidays for underprivileged kits, or just helping a mammal out whenever they needed it, it always made him smile whenever he did some sort of good deed. And helping a child who lost his way was no exclusion from the list of kind acts he would do.
Nick and Judy started to walk up to where he was standing, and, hesitantly, Clawhauser stepped forward as well. The four strolled in silence, guided by nothing but the small light.
"Momma!" the mysterious, youthful voice cried aloud another time. Judging by the fact that it was more audible this time around, they assumed they were getting closer to whoever was lost out here.
"Hello?" Judy asked as they continued to walk forward. "Anyone out here?"
The sounds of something darting away to their left was the only response that the four of them received. Delgato leading them walked towards the trees and various plants that were native to the land that outlined the passage. As he got closer, he saw the figure of a small mongoose peaking its head around from behind one of the trees.
"I can't find Momma," the frightened child choked. "I don't where to go."
"It's okay," the lion said in the most reassuring voice possible, extending a paw outward. "I'll help you find your mother."
The mongoose was a tad hesitant about coming out from behind where he was hiding, but he eventually stepped forward.
"Now where would your mother be?" Delgato inquired.
The child looked around at his surroundings before pointing a paw forward. "We're down there. On the right, I think."
The lion nodded. "You guys must be located at somewhere near the other campgrounds, then."
And so they all strolled along, going in the direction that the mongoose kid was telling them to go. The path started to get wider on both sides, and the area got a little more spacious after they made a right. However, when they reached the spot that the kid was directing them to go to, they saw that the section of the campgrounds was completely bare. There was absolutely no sign whatsoever that this part of the preserve was occupied.
"Doesn't look anyone's here," Delgato said to the child standing on his left side. "You sure we went the right way?"
Not a word was said in response. Instead, the kid simply walked towards the empty campsite with his back turned away from the others. He turned himself around after a few seconds of silence, grinning at the four mammals in an almost-sinister fashion.
"You were foolish enough to follow me here," the mongoose said. "You must know not that this is where I still roam."
"Wait, what?" Nick muttered, unsure of the very unusual words he had just heard. Then his mind went back to the legend Delgato told them about before all of this happened.
The young mongoose looked up at the skies above, spreading his arms out wide and exclaiming, "Transformatio!"
After this utterance was made, a cloud of smoke encompassed the small figure standing within the campsite. Once the shadow dissipated, the figure of a tall coyote with a disfigured complexion stared at them. The second it let out a snarl, the four campers looked at it in a state of pure shock.
"I knew it," Clawhauser muttered, starting to shiver at what he and the others just witnessed. His words came out of his mouth in a rushed fashion from the fright coalescing inside of him. "I freakin' knew it. What do we do now?"
Trying to remain as calm as he possibly could, Delgato replied, "I think we all know the answer to that."
Fleeing in retreat from something that caused one fear wasn't always a favored option, as some believed it made them look cowardly. But doing exactly that seemed like the best possible option at the moment.
Deep within the unknown path he was running down, the dark of night was making it a bit harder for them to focus. But there was no need to focus on anything else except for one thing, and that was getting as far away as possible from the coyote that was staright out of the legend Delgato read about.
The four continued to propel himself through the darkness, breathing steadily as they proceeded. The coyote was beginning to creep forward from behind him. But if he were being honest, he was under the impression that this thing was watching him with intentions that were obviously no good. While curiosity was bubbling inside to look back, they knew that this would be the wrong thing to do so.
Nick, Judy, and Delgato continued to sprint forward at their hurried pace, the sound of various objects crunching under his paws. Lagging a few inches behind them but sill very much running for safety was Clawhauser, who was becoming out of breath due to all of this running he was doing. The cheetah was making his was to safety alongside the others, but ended up tripping on some unidentified object in the dark. Within seconds, poor Benjamin found himself meeting the ground with a hard thump. It was the worst thing that could occur at this given time, but it happened much to the his dismay.
The large spotted feline tried to pick himself back up again, but he couldn't. For some unknown and uncanny reason, he just couldn't move. He was using every muscle in his body to get off of the ground, but he couldn't move a single inch. It was as if something invisible was keeping him pinned down to the ground. All he could truly do was lay where he was on the ground, completely terrified.
"Come on!" Clawhauser was yelling to himself, the sound of his voice echoing within the total darkness of the forest. While he couldn't move any of the other muscles within his body, his mouth was obviously not affected.
"Ben!" Nick and Judy exclaimed at the same time.
"Get up!" Delgato shouted.
"I can't!" Benjamin said back in frustration. "It's like I'm stuck to the ground!"
It was right then and there that the four of them started to see the coyote approaching them. Laughter started to come from the canid, and not the merry kind that was pleasant to the ears.
The disfigured coyote started to whisper something that was incomprehensible, as if it were being said in a language unknown to them. Just then a little bit of luminescence coalesced in front of the ghostly canid, scintillating and grayish in color.
A grunt pierced through the night, and the next thing Clawhauser saw was that little gray beam of light speedily traveling in his direction. The cheetah braced for the unknown light's impact and squinted his eyes, thinking that it was going to hurt or sting the moment that it bristled against his fur. The moment he blinked was the moment that it disappeared, and he let out a shallow breath.
However, it was when Benjamin's eyes darted downward that he noticed that something completely unexplainable was happening to him. He looked at his foot paws, noticing that they were no longer their usual orangish color and were turning the tint of gray that that beam of light was. His breaths got faster as he watched whatever was happening to him spread up his legs, reaching his torso and the attire that he was wearing. It looked to him as if the bottom half of his body was turning into a statue made from some sort of metamorphic rock.
As he felt what was happening to him move up towards his shoulders, Clawhauser quickly turned his head to the others and shouted, "Go on while you can!"
Just when he had finished saying those words, Benjamin had become an idle statue of himself.
A round of cackling filled the air, coming from none other than the coyote. "Solid as a rock," his raspy voice muttered, its tone more than capable of sending a shiver down any mammal's spine.
Nick, Judy, and Delgato had been frozen with fear by what they just witnessed, but quickly turned away and went back to attempting an escape from the canid that had no known name. They thought they were managing to get away from it, but they realized they weren't when Nick quickly looked back and saw what they darting away from was actually getting closer.
The coyote spread his arms out wide, and the three mammals found themselves being thrusted up into the air upon him doing so. They all flew back in different directions. As they all tried to pick themselves up again in retreat, they heard a snarl. Shortly afterwards, the mysterious mammal extended his paws outward, and three beams of gray light, equal to what had turned Clawhauser to stone, traveling in the direction of the unlucky three. What followed was them becoming statues, exactly how the cheetah did.
Silence filled the air. After a momentary pause, the coyote exclaimed a second time, "Transformatio!"
The very second that the utterance was made, smoke surrounded his figure once again and he felt his form start to quickly shift. The shape that he now found himself taking was that of a deer, a mammal that would appear innocent and unsuspicious, in the typical camper's attire. He glanced at his hooves, down at his long, powerful-looking legs, and behind him at his tail that was now diminutive in appearance. As they caught the noisiness of the nighttime locusts, the long ears of his newly-taken form perked up.
Turning around back, he walked back into the deep forest passage that he had previously came from with a wide grin.
"The campers were never heard from again, and the mysterious mammal continued to roam around the forest in another form, waiting patiently for its next victim. The end."
As Nick finished spinning the scary story he had thought up, his friends that were sitting around him started to applaud him, Judy being the first to clap. The fox and his bunny, as well as some of their friends from the precinct were gathered at Clawhauser's place for the Halloween party that he invited them to.
The cheetah was a big fan of Halloween and enjoyed some of the aspects that came with the annual observance. And the party he was currently hosting truly showed how much he was in the spirit of the holiday. Decorations colored in the traditional black and orange were visible in just about every corner of the living room, as well as an assortment of various small props—streamers, felt spiders, and the like—that complimented the theme of the party.
Now they all sat congregated in the living room, each of them telling a scary story for the evening.
"That was a great one, Nick," Clawhauser applauded. "Even better than the story Wolford told about the creepy doll."
"Thanks, Ben," the fox replied. "Glad ya think so."
Looking around the space from the chair he was sitting in was Delgato. He was seated next to the doorway that lead to the other room. "Speakin' of Wolford, where the heck did he go?" he asked.
The vulpine looked over at the lion and replied, "Do you dare to turn around?"
Delgato cocked his head at the fox's remark in confusion. "What are you talkin' about, Wilde."
"Turn around and see for yourself. Just don't say I didn't warn you."
The lion set his plastic cup of soda down beside him and turned his head around, still unsure of where Nick was going with this. He looked at the empty hallway for a few seconds, but nothing was there.
Without any warning, Wolford jumped out from around a room in the corner, away from vision, with a mask on and his paws extended out in front of him. This caused a startled Delgato to let out a frightened gasp that just about everybody in the room could hear.
The timber wolf laughed as he took the cheap mask he was wearing off of his face, pointing a paw at him. "You should've seen the way you jumped," he told the lion.
"Dammit, Wolford!" Delgato said. "You about gave me a heart attack!"
"Oh, don't be such a party pooper," the wolf replied.
Nick leaned back in his chair and started to laugh out loud, a few others letting out some additional chuckles alongside him. "I knew he'd react like that. I just knew it."
Now that the little shenanigan the fox had devised was over, Wolford walked over and found himself a spot on the couch to sit in.
The single ding of a kitchen timer caught everybody's attention, and Clawhauser arose from his seat. "They're ready!" he announced with excitement in his voice.
"What's ready?" Nick and Judy said in unison. Realizing they both were thinking the same thing at the same time, they pointed a paw at one another and proclaimed, "Jinx!"
Benjamin dashed over to the kitchen as quick as he could, pulled out a parchment-lined baking sheet from out of his fridge, and placed what had been cooling on it onto an orange serving tray.
"I put a spooky twist on a family recipe," the spotted feline said as he slowly walked back into the living room. "Any of you ever had a buckeye before?" When he saw that most of them were nodding their heads, he added, "Well I decided to dip them in white chocolate and add some toppings to make them look like eyeballs."
Everyone got a closer look at the little desserts Clawhauser made when he walked closer towards them. Along with being coated in the white chocolate he mentioned, a little colored, button-shaped candy rested in the middle of each of them.
Setting the tray down on the coffee table by his side, Benjamin remarked with a smile, "Help yourselves, guys."
And just about everybody there did exactly that.
The looks on the faces of the mammals that took a bite of the Halloween-themed treats was proof to the party's host that were as delectable as he thought they would be.
"Okay," Judy said, breaking the short moment of silence. "It's my turn to tell a scary story. This one's about a strange trench that leads to somewhere terrifying."
"Ooooh," several voices chorused upon the lagomorph mentioning what the tale was going to be about.
"I'm all ears, Carrots," Nick replied to the leporine with a smile.
The gray doe nodded to her fox and started to tell the story. "It all started late one night, when two ordinary mammals ended up stumbling across an eery piece of land…"